Container sealing apparatus



E. M. ENKUR CONTAINER SEALING APPARATUS Sept. 12, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 14, 1942 U 3 YVDWYVM L 5mm Mam Y o O 3 v t on W Sept. 12, 1950 A E. M. ENKUR 2,522,437

CONTAINER SEALING APPARATUS Filed NOV. l4,' 1942 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 WWQVW Sept 12, 1950 E. M. ENKUR 2,522,437.

CONTAINER SEALING APPARATUS Filed NOV. 14, 1942 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 OOOOOOOMOOOOOOOQQOOOQWOGOO Patented Sept. 12, 1950 Crown Cork & Seal Company, Inc., Baltimore; f

Md., a corporation of New York I Application November 14, 1942, Serial No. 465,623

i 15 Claims. (01. 2 26 82) '.The present invention relates to a container I sealing apparatus.

.An important object of the invention is to pro-.-

vide an apparatus for tilting or lifting caps with respect to containers. 1

. Another important object of the invention is to provide an apparatus. by means of which air in the heads'pace of a container will be removed r,..displaced by a rarefied or heated medium or by a gas of such nature that spoilage of the containercontents will be prevented and which apparatus is of extremely simple construction.

Most prior apparatus used to displace air from theheadspaces of containers are of the type in which steam displaces the headspace air. These apparatus are of two generaltypes. In the first of these the'steam has been jetted between the container and the .cap as thelatter is being applied. The cap is then permitted to drop to closing position. In the second type of apparatus the cap has been held in spaced relation to the container mouth during the jetting of steam into the headspace. The cap is then moved to sealed position.

I-n'the first type of prior apparatus referred to above, it has been necessary to heat the cap before it moves adjacent the container in order to preventcondensation of steam thereon during application of the cap in the steam atmosphere. With such apparatus, a special heated cap chutestructure must be provided. Y Since the cap chute must be open at its upperend, it is possible for steam toescape from the steam chamber through the chute. In any event, the steam tunnel must be of special design. 1 *-In the second type of steam chamber'apparatus, wherein the cap is held spaced fromthe container during jetting of steam, some special means must be providedto hold the cap in the desired position with regard to the mouth of the container. Y

By the apparatusof the present invention, the cap may be loosely' applied to the container in the open atmosphere by a cap chute of extremely simple construction. The cap and container then move into a steam chamber so that the cap will be heated. The cap is then held tilted or spaced with respect to themouthof thecontainer so that steam may displace the air within the headspace. Su'bsequentlythe capis'moved, to sealed position. T The present apparatus maybe used with air displacing media other than steam and, in such case, has the marked advantage of holding the cap spaced from the container without interrupting forward movement-of either;

A ,further object] o'fth e invention is to provide a. structure form'oving the cap to a tilted positionwith respect to the container which is of maximum simplicit and will hold the cap in tilted position without possibility of the, cap dropping. from. the container.

A The cap tilting structure provided by the present invention preferably provides a means which will exert a downward pressure upon one portion of the cap to tilt the cap upon the container and thereby lift an opposite'portion. This downward tainer.

pressure also serves to securely hold the cap in contactv with the container.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cap feeding means which is highly effective to apply caps to moving containers.

Caps are ordinarily applied to moving containers by passing the containers beneath an inclined cap chute. Because of the light weight of the caps, they areapt to slide off the container. during movement from the tilted chute. It is therefore usual to provide special elements on the cap-chute-to' direct the movement of the cap between.the, chute and the container. These devices usually'exert downward and lateral pres sure upon the cap and also function to substantiallylevel the cap upon the mouth of the con- ;By the present invention, a magnetized element is provided adjacent the lower end of a cap chutev or .othercap feeding device, so that the cap will adhere to this element'while being withdrawn from the chute by thecontainer. V

Whilethe magnetic effect of-the element is sufficientqgto holdthe-cap against free movement with respect to the element, this effect will not bestrong enough to prevent the cap from being moved along. the element by the moving container. Hence, the cap will eventually be drawn. from the magnetized element by the container, and will fall-into anat least substantially leveled.

position upon the mouth of the container.

A further object of the invention is to provide a cap-applying apparatus which is of such .de-

sign thatthe cap will always be held firmly in.

contact with-at least a portion of the container mouth from the ;moment that the container contacts with the cap in the chute until the cap is in fully sealed position upon the container.

- In any capping apparatus involving operations upon= moving containers, there is always a pos-' sibility that caps- -will fall from containers by reason, ofthe movement of the latter. By the presentyinvention, the cap is always held pressed. against the mouth of the container until it is entirely sealed. This is preferably accomplished by means associated with the capping chute, such as the magnetized element discussed above, and by other elements which act to exert a pressure upon the cap before the latter leaves the control of the element associated with the cap chute. In this way, the cap is at no time free to fall from the mouth of the container.

It will be understood that the cap tilting or lifting mechanism of the present invention may be used to lift a cap from a container while the container is in any air-excluding atmosphere such as a steam-filled or gaseous atmosphere referred to above or in any rarefied atmosphere. Itmay also be used in connection with devices which jet a gas or fluid into a headspace so as to replace the air in the headspace. It may also be used-to lift a cap within a vacuumizing chamber or in any other situation where it. is desirable to momentarily lift a cap with respect to a container, for example, to insert'some substance or object in the container.

Other objects and advantages of'the invention will be apparent from the following specification and accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the apparatus of the present invention, portions being shown in vertical section.

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view on the line 22 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a transverse vertical section on the line 33 of Figure 4.

Figure 4 is a longitudinal vertical section of the portionof the tunnel shown at the left of Figure l, and

Figure 5 is a top plan view of the lower'portion of the cap chute of Figure 1.

In the embodiment of the invention particularly illustrated, the cap lifting mechanism of the present invention isused to lift caps so that air may be removed from the container headspace. Furthermore, the air removal is accomplished by means of a steam atmosphere. The apparatus thus disclosed may be generally *described as including a supporting conveyor H) which moves filled and uncapped containers C- beneath a cap supply chute H. As a container is moved beneath the chute II, the mouth of the container will engage the lowermost cap C in the cap chute and withdraw it from the chute. The cap chute preferably includes a wiper 12 beneath which the cap will be drawn and which will serve to generally level the cap upon the mouth of the container. The wiper I2'includes a magnetic insert [3 which has the function of preventing the cap from sliding of its own-weight with respect to the-wiper ["2 or the mouth of the container, though the power of the insert [3 is not sufficient to prevent the cap from being drawn from beneath the wiper l2 under the pulling action exerted by the container C moving with the conveyor l0.

After acap has been looselyapplied to a container the continued movement of the latter with the conveyor II] will bring the cap into contact with a cap lifting ortilting element M whi'chis so mounted that it will exert a downward pres sure upon one edge of the cap to thereby tilt the cap so that its opposite edge will be lifted in the manner indicated in Figure 3. At'the time this tilting occurs the container and cap will be within a. steam tunnel generally designated by the numeral I6 and steam-will therefore reach the container headspace todisplace all air therefrom.

The container will then move-beneath a; can

ping element I 1 of endless form mounted within element l4 and which will force the cap C to a fully seated and sealed position upon the mouth of the container. The run of the capping element I1 extends sufliciently beyond the outlet end of the tunnel l6, and in the open atmosphere, that the stem within the headspace of the sealed container will be condensed to create a vacuum condition before the cap C moves from beneath the capping element [1.

In more detail, the apparatus of the invention disclosed herein comprises a supporting base element 20 including an upper surface 2! which is provided with a trackway or guide 22 for the supporting conveyor [0.

Filled containers are placed upon the conveyor III by any suitable means, either at random or in timed. relation and the containers then move beneath the cap supply chute H, which is preferably of the type disclosed in the application of Edward M. Enkur, Leo F. Pahl and Louis L. Lauve, Serial No. 351,004, filed August 3, 1940, now Patent No. 2,433,549, for Container Sealing Apparatus, except that the wiper H includes'the magnetic insert l3. As is described in said appli-- cation, the cap supply chute is provided with a guide-way 23 down which the caps slide, the end of the guideway being defined by upstanding shoulders 24 against which'the leading edge of the skirt of the lowermost cap will contact. In this position, the lowermost portion of the cap skirt will be-in the path of movement of the leading edge of a container mouth, but this cap will be held downwardly against the gui'deway 23 by the pressure exerted thereon by transversely spaced arms 25 forming a'presser element such as described in said application.

When a container mouth contacts with the skirt of the lowermost cap, the cap will be drawn over the shoulders 24 and to the right as viewed in Fig. 1, thereby moving beneath the wiper H as described in said application. Wiper 12 com prises an arm 26 pivoted at 21 and having a tongue 28 extending forwardly therefrom to form the cap engaging portionof the wiper. That as best shown in'Figure 1, the arm 26 of the wiper normally lies substantially parallel to the surface of the cap chute guideway 23 and hence is at a fairly-sharp angle with respect to the surface of thesupporting conveyor to, while the cap err-- gaging surface of the tongue 28 is at a smaller angle with respect to conveyor 10*.

' As the cap is drawn over the stops or shoulders Edzand after it gets clear of the chute, the mag-,- netic insert will cause it to remain-in. fiat contact with the wiper 12 as shown in :Figure 1 so that it cannot, of its own'wei'ght, slide in any direction. However, as the. container continues to the right, the. cap will be drawn from tongue 28 to lie looselyand substantially flat upon thecontainer mouth. The adjacent end of cap tilting element I4 is preferably sufficiently closerto tongue 28 that a cap will move intocontact with. element l4 before it is entirely free of the tongue.

In this way the cap is always acted upon by some: element which prevents it from sliding from the container mouth.

It will be observed that theprovision of the magnetic insert prevents the. cap from dropping: down upon acontainer mouth immediately'itstrailing portion moves clear of the guideway 23 of the chute. For'example, the capillustrated Figure 1 as in contact with wiper tongue 28 is:- entirely clear of all contact with guideway 23:. T5- and shoulders zl-because trailing portion. is:

actually between the .shoulders as shown in" Figure .5. Nevertheless, the insert I3 prevents it iromdropping directly downwardly; Hence, aside from .preventing acap from sliding. oil a container mouth, the magnetic element causes it to have a more gradual swinging movement from a position ata sharp angle to conveyor I0, as when his in the chute II, to a. position. substantially parallel to conveyor I0.

It is also to be noted that because of the tendency ofcaps to slide laterally after they become free of a cap chute, it has heretofore been necessary to provide horizontally swingingarms spring urged toward each other to act upon lateral portions of the cap. skirt toprevent it from moving laterally and also to 'exert a slight lateralpressure thereon to limit forward sliding movement of .the cap.,- The provisionlpf the magnetic insert I3 in the. wiper I2 will preventjall movement of the (cap with respect to both the wiper; and the container mouth.

. As stated above, before thecapisentirely free .of theinfiuence of themagnetic element I3, its {award portion willmove in contact with the pressing element I4 which will exert suflicient downward pressure upon a cap. to, prevent it from moving laterally. H -.The capping element I1, ,isalso anendless element formed of ,metal links including a fiat cap engaging surface asshown in Figures 1 and 4, the links moving :about sprockets 3I and 32 spaced closer together than the-rollers 29 and 30. The capping element; ;I; I is preferably of the type disclosed in Patent No...2,256,4 15, issued to Robert J. Stewart for. Container Sealing Apparatus on. September 16, 1941, that is, it isso constructed that it exerts, ,a, downward pressure along a line extending, diagonally, downwardly toward its infeedend. I v

..The. cap pressingor tilting element I4 is, preferably formed of a fabric, or similar material having sufiicient bodily resiliency that-itwill not mar the surface of the caps, but, nevertheless, will exert a firm pressure thereon Asbest shown in Figure 1, the. pressing element III moves about rollers 29 and 30 but asubstantial portion of its upper and lower runs are .in contact-with the upper and lower runs of the. endless capping element I1. I 1 I The capping element I1 isdriven atthe same linear speed as conveyor I0 and the oaptiltingelement I4 is driven at the same linearspeed as the capping elementI'I, because;.,of,the fact that a roller 3Ia bears upon-the upper run oi'element -to hold it in firmycontact with theupper run of element I 1 in the mannendescribed in said application of Edward M, Enkur, Leo F. Pahl and Louis L. Lauve., y It willbe understoo that the sealing element I1 and the cap tilting element I4 are vertically adjustable, as a unit, with respect to conveyor I0. The chute II is also vertically adjustable to. permit it ,to operate "with, containersof diiierent heights. z m

"As best shown in Figure 2,.when the cap pressing element I4 movesirom the. roller..29v at its inlet end while moving in the direction of the arrow shown in Figure 1, suchportion of the belt will be transversely horizontal as-shown inFigure 2. At this time the belt will be .moving between two vertically extending'plates 32a forming part of tunnel I6 and positioned closely adjacent the edgesof the belt. Immediately beyond this point the belt I I will move beneath a rollers33-which is rotatable on a' pin 34 having, itszends iournaledin bearing brackets 35 and 36 positioned in cut-outs formed in the plates 32a. l The brackets 35 and 36 support the pin 34 atan angle to the surface of conveyor I0 though the pin lies in a vertical plane at right angles to the conveyor. In Figure 3 the dotted line B indicates the horizontal plane in which the belt I4 would ordinarily lie at. the point in its travel which is in vertical alignment with the axis of roller 33 and it will be observed from this that the lowest end of roller 33 is beneath this line. In other words, the lowest portion of the roller 33 exerts adownward pressure on one edge of the cap-C so thatthe opposite edge of the cap will be lifted from the corresponding portion of the container mouth, thereby opening the headspace of the containe' to the body of steam present in the tune nell Itwill be observed that each of the brackets 35 and 36 includes a horizontal ledge 31 at its lower portion which extends beneath the edge of belt I 4 to thereby prevent the fiow of steam upwardly be:- tween the edge of the tilted belt and the plates 32a at this point. I v

Immediately after the belt I4 has moved from beneath roller 33, it will assume its normal transversely horizontal position, restoring the cap a "horizontal position on thefmouth of the container. This will occur before the container leaves the cloud of steam within the tunnel I6. In addition, as best shown in Figure 1, the 0011-. tainer will move beneath the influence of capping element I'I before it leaves the steam tunnel I5 and this will cause the cap to be forced to a seated and secured position upon the mouth of the container. Further travel of the container with the supporting element I0 and the capping element I I will cause the cap to be held in sealed position while .in the open atmosphere so that the steam confined in the headspace will be cooled and condensed to create a vacuum condition in the headspace. It will be noted that Figure 1 omits a por tion of the length of the elements I4 and I1.

The steam tunnel I6 may be of any suitable form, but extremely satisfactory results are obtained if a quiet cloud of steam is maintained within the tunnel in the manner described below.

As shown in Figures 1 and 4, the inlet end of the tunnel is beyond the point at which a cap is applied. to a container mouth. Hence the con tainer is closed by the cap before it moves into a steam atmosphere, even though retaining lugs on the cap skirt or the inside diameter of the skirt may prevent the cap from squarely seating onthe container mouth under the relatively light pres sure applied thereto by wiper I2 and cap tilting belt I4.

Tunnel I 6 is generally defined by the belt I4 moving between the vertical plates 32a and two chambers provided with inner foraminous mem: bers through which steam may flow. Referring to Fig. 3, the right hand portion of tunnel I6 comprises an inlet chamber defined by a side wall 40 and upper and lower walls 4| and 42 respectively. A steam inlet pipe 43 is mounted immediately ad-' jacent the side plate 40 with its steam ports M generally facing this plate. The inner side of the chamber is formed by carbon blocks 45 of substan tial thickness as shown in Figures 2' and 3 which are sufliciently porous topermit steam to move therethrough, but which materially decreases the force of the steam so that it will issue from the inner sides of the blocks in a quiet stream.

The opposite sdie of the tunnel I 6 is formed by achamber 46 consisting of a side wall and upper and lower walls as and "89, respectivel a carbon block 5.0 forming the inner wall or the chamberl A ==steam supp1y pipe 51 delivers steam 'toitne vchamber 46., .pipe 51 having its jets '52 ita'chrg away from the :bl'o'ckfifl.

a, Steam in the pipes 43 and ii is atrelatlvely low pressure, for example, about l /2 pounds. This steam issuing zfirom the jets of the pipe against the walls of the respective chambers other .thanthe carbon blocks =45-and on will have its pressure Iurt'her reduced lay the size or the chamber as oonrpared to the diameter or the steam pipe. In addition, no steam will be forcibly jetted against the carbon blocks. The steam will move through the carbon blocks to enter the tunnel defined by the belt M and chambers so and 6 with only sufficient lorceto-rnaintaina quiet body of steam in the tunnel. The blocks 25 provided at the side or the tunnel facing the liftededge or I a cap are somounted as to provide an obtuse "angle between each other and this has some effect uidin -s e m tothe heodspaceol the container, h it will give no concentrated jetting effect.

' *Itis desirajlil'e to provideajarcenteringdevice "ta'riiy lift a cap from a container, and -\xrith'out regardtowhether headsp'ace airis to be removed.

For example, the cap lilting mechanism :or the present invention be usedtoli'ft a cap'from a'container so that somesubstance or object can be "placed in theoontainen An instance of such use would he "theflifting of a cap so flavorin; or iortrfgdng ingredients such as sait or Vitamins, perhaps inpellet form, can he added to the container contents.

The terminology Used inthe specification for the'fpurpose of description, and not of limi'tae i,-

tion, the scope of' the invention "being indicated by'the claims.

11. claim:

i. .In acapping maoIiine,-meansto move along a pie-determined path .a container .liauin'g a 'cap loosely applied to its mouth, and means movable along at least a portion of said path to exert downward pressure upon a portionof the-cap to tilt .thecap with respect .tothe container mouth so that an opposite portion will lbe-Ililted from the container mouth, said lastnamed meansincludinga portion which Willo'EOZltact with the lifted .-.pol"-tion'of the sap.

2 Elna cappingmachine, means to support and move-:acontainer havingacapllooselyapplieti to its :mouth, rand a moving andless "belt of a Width substantially corresponding ,to the diameter of the to exert pressure upon a @portion 'o-f the canto tilt the latter and thereby lift an Imposite portion with i respect to the cont'ain'ermouth.

3. In combination, endless 'rneans to support and move a container having a nap rlo'osely ap plied to its month, an endless member moving above said first-named means and adapted to enpage the cap, and means in 'zth'e path of move- 8 mcntbf endless ember to 'tllttheiatta' and thereby icausethe cap to "be tilted,

4. In a oappingmachine, endless means to tsupport and move :a' container having acaploosely appiied'to its im'outh, :an endless .imenrber moving above said first-named means and. adapted :to contact with the-cap, means in the .path'of move mentor-said endless-member to :tilt the latter and thereby cause the cap to 'ibeltilted-and means within the patnof movement of said upper endless member to exert pressure upon the latter to m'ove'the cap to'seaied'posltion.

5, In a capping machine, endless means to support an'd'move 1a container having a capiloosely applied to its mouth, and endless member mowing above saidffirst-na'med means and adapted to contact with the cap, means in thepa'th ofznove mentors'aid endlessmemb'erto -tilt the'latter and thereby cause the cap to he tilted, means to Vi'de a vhearted otn'iosphere adjacent the point at which the cap it tilted to remove airimm th container headspace, and means within the path of movement of said upper endless member to exert pressure upon the "latter to move the cap to sealed position.

'6. In 'a container capping apparatus, com tainer supporting and moving means, means :to apply caps -'to containers, a steam tunnel open at both ends and havingrits inlet :end spaced rearwardly from said cap applying :means and through which tunnel said container supporting means moves, and means within said tunnel to tilt the applied caps with respect to the con- 'tainer 'mouths "so "that the steam in the tunnl may displace air in the container 'headspa'ce and then seal the caps upon the container "mouths.

l-JIn combination, means to support a :con tainer having a eap loosely applied thereto, means to engage the cap, andmeans to :move said last-named m'ean's to tilt the cap with frespect to the flip of the "container and to then force the cap 'Fbac'k Ito normal loose position .on the container.

8. The combination "according to claim 7., zineluding :ojir removing means operative while the cap :is tilted, and means to seal the capmpon the container after it has beenirestored to norm1 loose position. Y

9. The combination defined in claim f1, wherein said container supporting tmeans :is a. :monlng element and :said cap engaging element is part of :a moving endless element.

lfiflln combination, means :to support aioontrainer having a eap loosely applied thereto, ya cap engaging elem'ent including a face positioned toeitend diametrically-across :and above the cap, and means to move said element to pool;- tion said face at an angle to the plane-40f the container llipa-nd to then posi'tion saldifaoe parallel with the plane or the :container lip so that the cap' will ir-iitiallybe tilted with respect to t'he container Flip and will then bcrireturnedito nor m1 loose position by sai'd element.

11. The combination according to claim i10 including air removingmeans operative while the cap is tilted, and :means to seal the map to the containeriafter :ithas "been returned to normal loose position.

112 combination defined in claim '10 wherein said container supportlng means is via moving element and said cap engaging element isipart of 'azmoving endlessaelement.

1 3. in combination, :means .to support :and move 'a "container; and ':means imoving with :said container to engage 'a-smp upon a, container and tilt the cap with respect to the container, said last-named means including a portion which will contact with the lifted portion of the cap. 1

14. In combination, means to support an upright container including a horizontally extending lip having a cap loosely applied thereto in substantially horizontal position, a cap engaging element including a face positioned to extend horizontally and. diametrically across and above the cap, and means to move said element to position said face at an angle to the plane of the container lip and to then position said face parallel with the plane of the container lip so that the cap will be tilted with respect to the container lip and will then be returned to substantially horizontal position with respect to the container lip and sealed.

15. In a container capping apparatus, container supporting and moving means, means to loosely apply a cap to a container to substantially isolate the container head space, including the cap interior, from the surrounding atmosphere, a steam tunnel open at both ends and having its. inlet end spaced from said cap applying means and through which tunnel said container supporting means moves, and means within the said tunnel to tilt the applied cap with respect to the container mouth so that the steam in the tunnel may displace air in the con- 10 tainer head space, said cap tilting means being positioned at such distance from the tunnel .inlet that the steam atmosphere will heat the cap before the cap is tilted, and means to then seal the cap upon the container mouth.

EDWARD M. ENKUR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,992,557 Tone et a1 Feb. 26, 1935 2,041,891 White May 26, 1936 2,054,492 Young Sept. 15, 1936 2,076,052 White Apr. '6, 1937 2,132,335 White Oct. 4, 1938 2,198,589 Bell Apr. 30, 1940 2,256,415 Stewart .Sept. 16, 1941 2,273,264 Hermani Feb. 17, 1942 2,311,707 Stewart Feb. 23, 1943 2,319,213 Davies May 18, 1943 2,352,761 Bell July 4, 1944 2,361,366 Bell Oct. 31, 1944 2,433,549 Enkur et a1 Dec. 30, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 429,832 Germany June 4, 1926 

